Normal mayor Chris Koos and his challenger, Marc Tiritilli, disagree on what is most important to the community. During a WGLT debate this week, Koos argued that it was COVID-19. Tiritilli said ‘COVID is a crisis, but it’s not the most important issue facing the community. The most important is division. This assumes all the other issues. ”
Tiritilli said that some of Koos’ actions towards COVID exacerbated the problem he considered ‘divisive’. Tiritilli argued that this action in any case “really did not bend the curve”.
However, several of Tiritilli’s statements related to Koos’ COVID actions are not true. Others are misleading. Here is what he said:
‘Some of the methods used by Mayor Koos COVID have exacerbated the (division) problem. The action he took, therefore, did not really bend the curve. We all got upset with the Nelk Boys, and there was no increase. We got upset with Joe’s Station House, and there was no increase. “We closed certain parties – did it disproportionately – and we had the biggest increase in the whole curve,” Tiritilli said.
Statement # 1: “We were all upset about the Nelk Boys, and there was no peak.”
It is not true.
YouTube stars who passed the Nelk Boys through Normal on September 8 unmasked large crowds of young people, including many students from Illinois State University. ISU officials, who were involved in a major COVID outbreak among students, said they would pursue discipline against the students involved. Koos said “the city will take action against not only the Nelk Boys, but also those who invited the YouTube stars to campus,” according to The Pantagraph.
One week later, on September 14, McLean County set a record of the then record for active COVID cases – 1,419 people. This peak included hundreds of university students. On Sept. 23, McLean County saw what was at the time a record of 12 people hospitalized with COVID. (Hospitalizations are a backward indicator, with increases usually followed by the number of cases).
Declaration no. 2: “We were upset about Joe’s Station House, and there was no peak.”
It is not true.
The Pritzker administration banned indoor service at pubs and restaurants on Nov. 4. A handful of businesses in Bloomington-Normal, including Joe’s Station House in Normal, defied the ban.
Normal police responded to Joe’s at least twice during the week after Nov. 4 on complaints about the issue. On November 16, Koos (who is also the city’s liquor commissioner) sent a letter to Joe’s about the alleged offenses in which he was asked to comply voluntarily.
“As a liquor licensee in the city Normally, you have a duty to follow the law,” Koos wrote. “An offense may subject you to fines or the suspension or revocation of your liquor license.”
The same day Koos sends that letter – Nov. 16 – McLean County recorded what is still the highest number of active COVID cases for any day: 1,559 people. Hospitalizations (again a backward indicator) reached a new record of 23 people on 24 November.
A study published on March 5 confirmed that state-imposed mask mandates and on-site eateries are helping to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Statement # 3: “We closed certain parties – did it out of proportion – and we had the biggest increase in the whole curve.”
This is misleading.
Tiritilli seems to be referring here to an emergency order issued by Koos on August 28 banning the gathering of more than ten people around the ISU’s campus, as defined in the city’s parking impact zone, plus all other residential buildings in the city. .
The order came at the forefront of ISU’s biggest outbreak, when more than 1,300 students tested positive in the first few weeks of the fall semester, which began on August 17th.
There wash an increase during this time: 1419 active cases were recorded on 14 September. But it was not the biggest increase during the pandemic. It occurred on November 16 (1,559 cases), part of what is widely considered the second wave in McLean County. The second wave traversed many different age groups, unlike the ISU / September wave.
It is also impossible to say exactly what influence Koos’ emergency order had on the spread of COVID, if any. It is possible that 1,419 numbers would have been higher without it; it is possible that it has only a marginal or even no impact on the case.
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